Kevin Can F**k Himself's stakes were too high for a satire of the sitcom wife

Pajiba

The AMC series, which completed its first season on Sunday, was a great show buried beneath an unnecessary one, says Dustin Rowles. "By building the series upon the premise that Allison needs to kill her husband (rather than leave him), creator Valerie Armstrong may have written herself into a corner...," he says. Rowles adds: "Is this what Kevin Can F**k Himself needs to be? A show where Allison tries to evade both the police and her own death? Breaking Bad with laugh-track interludes? Unfortunately, Allison’s attempted murder conspiracy and Patty’s foray into drug dealing often seem to distract the show from what it’s actually trying to say about the sitcom husbands of the world. Its themes are buried beneath a police investigation. Divorcing a guy like Kevin is hard enough — especially if there were kids involved — that the series didn’t need to ramp up the stakes so quickly. It’s a better show when it sticks to Allison’s frustration with her husband’s sitcom antics, when it explores the affair between her and Sam, and when it is centered on the burgeoning friendship between Allison and Patty. The series suffers from a serious case of Useless Protagonist syndrome, only instead of the protagonist that’s useless, it’s the main storyline. Drugs, hitmen, and cops aren’t necessary to tell those stories; in fact, they are detrimental. It’d be far more interesting to see Allison stand up to her husband without hiding behind someone else’s gun."

ALSO:

• Kevin Can F**k Himself may be as subtle as a blow to the skull, but it’s an inventive meta-critique of TV
• Kevin Can F**k Himself's season finale was unsatisfying with a wishy-washy ending
• Maybe there's a better show hiding within Kevin Can F**k Himself: What's great about the title is that the show doesn't need Kevin
• In terms of sheer audacity, the season finale of Kevin Can F**k Himself has to be commended
• Eric Petersen imagines his character outside the sitcom world: "I feel like he’d be sad"
• Kevin Can F**k Himself creator Valerie Armstrong is "very hopeful" for a Season 2 renewal, says an announcement should happen "pretty soon"
• Armstrong says the season finale evolved over the four years she thought about it